fter a long round,
I at last contrived, after much scrambling, to land in the valley. And
when I actually found myself there, then, and not till then, I thought
myself safe.

"Big drops of heat were running down my cheeks. I seated myself on a
large log of wood, lying on the ground, close to the very beech tree
where the hatter met Joseph. I was so overheated that I would gladly
have got rid of some of my wraps; but there was a very cool breeze in
the valley. The sun was just sinking behind the hills, and it was not
yet noon when I left home. I saw swallows flying about. Oh! what a
pleasant sight that was to me! And then I heard a cock crow. No
nightingale's song could sound half so sweet as the crowing of a cock
to a person who has lost his way. Well! I felt that I was now in the
world again. I heard a hen cackling: wherever an egg is laid, there is
sure to be a woman near. I heard a dog barking: where a dog barks a man
is not far off. I am once more among my fellow-creatures. Presently I
heard the rushing of a mill. Where am I, then?

"So long as I was wandering about and lost, even in my anguish, I never
shed a tear; but now, when I was safe, I for the first time became
fully aware of the dangers I had undergone, and I began to cry so
dreadfully that I thought I must dissolve away, and yet I could not
stop myself. Then, luckily, I saw a woodcutter coming along. I asked
him where I was. 'Roettmannshof is close by up there,' said the man,
passing on. I called after him to ask what o'clock it was. 'Past five.'
So I had actually been running about for seven hours. I could scarcely
believe it--seven mortal hours! If I had been superstitious, I should
have certainly believed that some wood demon had purposely led me
astray, for after seven o'clock has struck their delight is to mislead
people, and there are day spirits as well as night spirits. By
following the river I was sure to reach the Forest Mill; so I set off
towards it. Scarcely, however, had I gone two hundred paces when I
discovered that I had left my small parcel lying on the trunk of the
tree; and it had caused me so much trouble, and I had taken such care
of it! Gracious me! this too! Perhaps the woodcutter stole it, and I
shall be obliged to pay for the velvet cap, instead of receiving a sum
for making it. I ran back. Men are very good and honest, especially
when they don't know the value of a thing. My parcel had slipped down
behind the tree, and there I f